Hong Kong Painting by Lumli Lumlong
淋漓淋浪的香港畫作
“Thousand Hands Man” Lumli Lumlong
Oil on canvas
200×125cm
2019
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It is a co-created work by artists Lumli and Lumlong, a couple from Hong Kong, the left part is by Lumlong, and the right is by Lumli.
“Thousand Hands Man” postures his hands like the Thousand Hands Guanyin, while holding various resistance weapons: an umbrella, an aluminum dish for steamed fish, a camera and a few pieces of international newspapers, etc. With all hands belonging to the same body, the Man is a symbol of unity between the peaceful and valiant factions of the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong. The bottles in the painting represent Bruce Lee’s Nunchaku. Inspired by Lee’s famous quote, “Be water”, the demonstrators flow like water, gathering and dispersing shapelessly, while resisting and retreating flexibly. Beneath his legs, the Man offers a place of refuge to the souls of the deceased activists. Among them are Chan Yin-lam and Leung Ling-kit, Marco.
“Thousand Hands Man” is not about something bygone, but something ongoing. As long as there is a sense of defiance and an unyielding spirit among the people, the “Thousand Hands Man” is always around. So is everyone else.
It is hard to imagine what we have been going through, and what may come next. First the Anti-Extradition Bill Movement, then the national security law for Hong Kong, the loss of an equitable electoral system, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of creation and perhaps more. Yet, we felt blessed with the bonding among fellow protesters during this agonizing period. As siblings of the dissenting family in the city, we all stand with each other, and with Hong Kong, fighting for the values treasured universally. “Thousand Hands Man” tries to depict all these.
“Red Brick Wall People” Lumli Lumlong
Oil on canvas
200×125cm
2022
Campus transformed into a drain? This painting commemorates the "Siege of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University" during the Anti-Extradition Movement in 2019.
In November, the protesters called a general strike and urged for public support of “Three Suspensions”: to stop work, stop classes, and stop the markets. They gathered at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and the police surrounded the campus and suppressed them with force. As a result, the protesters were besieged in the campus for 13 days. This was the largest number of arrests in the movement, with more than a thousand people arrested and countless injured.
We overlook the campus and transform it into a drain to escape through, and some people abseil down from a bridge for self-rescue. At the bottom of the painting, there are five human chains transporting supplies into the university - this is an action called “besiege Wei to rescue Zhao”. The protesters outside the campus relieve the besieged by besieging the police, in order to distract the police and hope to buy time for the besieged to escape. The campus is blazing with fire. There are petrol bombs and bricks everywhere for defence. In November, Remembrance Day takes place in the UK to commemorate the soldiers who died since the First World War. We are sending poppies representing Remembrance Day to our fellow Hong Kong protesters as well.
Completing this epic painting was like traversing a desert. The left of this co-created work is by Lumlong and the right is by Lumli; Lumlong does the day shift and Lumli the night shift. In 2021, we were politically persecuted and exiled to the UK. We, who are overseas, hope to use paintings as a voice for protesters in Hong Kong and hopefully the next generation will never forget the past and prevent those in power from rewriting history. We are proud to be Hongkongers since 2019!
“Hong Kong Foodie” Lumli Lumlong
Oil on canvas
51×41cm
2023
Hong Kong culture has been brought to all over the world.
Fellow protesters, wherever you are, you will always be in our hearts.
This is a mixture of Hong Kong foodie and protester – pineapple bun with butter turns into a helmet; siumai and fish ball become goggles; round and square egg waffles, silky milk tea and French toast are combined into a gas mask; wonton is the left ear and egg tart is the right ear; jook-sing noodles and satay beef noodles change into hair; claypot rice with cured meat transforms into the body; the bricks of Bing Sutt (traditional cold drinking house, the predecessor of Cha Chaan Teng, i.e. Hongkongese Café) are paved as the background of this painting.
The names of Hong Kong food are hilarious: Silky milk tea is not made with silk; pineapple bun has no pineapples, and the claypot rice (in Cantonese : 煲仔飯Boil Son Rice) doesn’t mean boiling a son! Hong Kong is truly a food paradise!
*A tribute to painter Giuseppe Arcimboldo
Lumli Lumlong
Born into working-class families, Lumli Lumlong studied fine art together in France for 5 years with very limited financial means. Most of their artwork, which have been exhibited and collected by individuals in Hong Kong, Paris, London, Sydney, New York, Dublin and Prague, is mostly oil-painting in a grotesque style with a shared aim, revealing social realities. They have published their collection of artwork entitled “Liberation of Art” and “The Hong Kong Metamorphosis”. Under the rule of China, they were repeatedly criticized by the pro-Chinese Communist Party media for allegedly violating the National Security Law and using art to promote Hong Kong independence. “Liberation of Art” was then listed as a banned book. In 2021, they fled Hong Kong to the UK. Despite being suppressed, the couple still hope to use their works to contribute to their beloved hometown, Hong Kong.
In addition to their artistic creations, they spent the next fifteen years teaching painting after returning to Hong Kong from France. They established their own art studio, teaching mainstream students, students with autism, sponsored students, rehabilitated youths and more. They were lecturers of oil-painting at the School of Continuing and Professional Studies, The Chinese University of Hong Kong.
According to Lumli Lumlong, social reality can be more “terrifying” than their artistic creations and compassion is the ultimate expression of one’s imagination.
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*Appreciation for Lumli Lumlong's Provision of the Above Paintings and Text Description